A field emission cathode apparatus

Abstract: It is the object of the invention to provide a field emission cathode apparatus comprising plural electron-emitters which eliminates nonuniformity of electric emission density over an emissive area, controls emission currents by active devices, and improves reliability of the apparatus. A p-type silicon 5 and a n-type silicon 4 are formed on a n⁺-type silicon 6. On n-type silicon 4, an electron-emitter 1 made of Mo is formed, and an electron-emitter 1 is surrounded by a grid electrode 2 and an insulator layer 3. A n-type silicon 4 serves as a channel region of a junction gate field effect transistor, and a current flowing through it is controlled by a voltage applied to a p-type silicon 5. Accordingly, an electron current emitted from an electron-emitter 1 is also controlled by this transistor, and by setting up an operation region of this transistor in a saturation current region, nonuniformity of electron emissions from electron-emitters can be improved. Even when a portion of cathodes are damaged, damages are not magnified to that of a whole apparatus, and a life of a field emission cathode can be prolonged.

Description: The invention relates to a field emission cathode apparatus, especially to a field emission cathode apparatus in which every cone shaped elementary electron emitter (electron-emitter, hereinafter) is controlled by an active device. Field emission apparatus is widely used in various equipments such as cathode ray tubes of displays, vacuum tubes for microwave technologies or sensors as electron sources. A conventional field emission cathode apparatus comprises two important parts; one is a cathode electrode, and another one is a grid electrode. A cathode electrode comprises a metallic plane and cones shaped electron-emitters with upward apecies, which are made of a metal with high melting point. Cone shaped electron-emitters are positioned on lattice points which is assumed on a metallic plane. A grid electrode is a planar plate of a metal with high melting point and provided with circular holes, centers of which are positioned on lattice points assumed on a planar plate. Geometrical parameters of two sets of lattice points are quite the same. Cathode and grid electrodes are combined such that, planar portions of these electrodes are parallel to each other, and an apex of each cone shaped electron-emitter is surrounded by a inner periphery of a circular hole of a grid electrode. In this construction, when a voltage is applied between cathode and a grid electrode, high electric field is generated around an apex of electron-emitter, and thereby electrons are emitted from an apex, which is known as high field emission. On a field emission cathode apparatus, however, several disadvantages have been pointed out. (1) When there are random imperfections in shapes or dimensions of electron-emitters or a grid electrode, nonuniformity of electron emission arises over a whole emissive area of the apparatus. (2) When a break down arises between a electron-emitter and a grid electrode, there is no means to suppress a short circuit current, and a scale of damage is magnified. (3) There is no means to control magnitude of electron emission, and therefore this cathode apparatus is unsuitable for display means. EP-A-0 496 572 discloses an integrally controlled field emission display device wherein at least a controller, realized as a transistor device, is disposed in/on at least a layer of said field emission display device and is operably connected to at least one element of the field emission device of the field emission display device. A plurality of integrally formed controllers may be selectively interconnected to provide selective control of groups of field emission devices of the field emission device display in a manner that provides for integrated active addressing of the field emission display device. This field emission device disclosed in this document shows all the features of the precharacterizing portion of claim 1. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a field emission cathode apparatus which has uniform density of electron emission over a whole emissive area of the apparatus, and means to modulate a emission current of each electron-emitter at will, and to limit a short circuit current flowing into each electron-emitter in a case of break-down between an electron-emitter and a cathode electrode. According to the invention this object is achieved by a field emission cathode apparatus according to claim 1. The dependent claims are related to further advantageous aspects of the present invention. The invention will be explained in more detail in conjunction with appended drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view which represents a construction a conventional field emission cathode apparatus, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a field emission cathode apparatus using junction gate field effect transistors as first preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a field emission cathode apparatus using insulated gate field effect transistors as second preferred embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a field emission cathode apparatus using bipolar transistors as third preferred embodiment of the invention. Before explaining a field emission cathode apparatus in the preferred embodiments according to the invention, the aforementioned conventional field emission cathode apparatus will be explained referring to Fig. 1. When a pointed end of a cone shaped electrode with a small size is exposed to high electric field, electron emission arises at the pointed end. The Spindt-Type electrode for electric field emission shown in Fig. 1 is known as a typical example of such electrodes. In Fig. 1, 10 is an insulator substrate such as glass. 9 is an electrically conductive layer, which is made of a metal such as Al, and formed on an insulator substrate 10. On an electrically conducted layer 9, electron emitter 1s, which are made of a metal with high melting point such as W, Mo or etc. and shaped into cones with pointed apices, are arranged on lattice points assumed on a surface of an electrically conductive layer 9. Each of these emitters 1s is surrounded by an insulator layer 3 made of SiO 2 , or etc. and a grid electrode 2 made of a metal such as Mo, W, Cr or etc.. In such a field emission cathode apparatus, when a voltage is applied between a grid electrode 2 and an electrically conductive layer 9, such that field intensities near apices of electron-emitters 1s are about 10 7 V/cm or more, electrons are emitted from electron-emitters 1s. By combining large numbers of electron-emitters, an electron beam corresponding to a electric current with desired magnitude can be obtained. However, if there are slight imperfections in shapes of electron-emitters 1s and a grid electrode 2, nonuniformity of electron emission density arises, and a life of a whole apparatus is reduced on account of break downs of a portion of electron-emitters. As an method to prevent such undesirable phenomena, the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, France in EP-A-0 316 214 proposed to insert a resistive film, made of Si or etc., between a electrically conductive layer and electron-emitters, wherein a thickness of a resistive film is several tens of nm to several µm, and a specific resistant of a resistive material was several hundreds to several million Ω·cm. In that construction, nonuniformity of electron emission density was decreased to some extents. Moreover, when insulations between electron-emitters and a grid electrode are deteriorated, currents flowing into electron-emitters are limited by a resistive layer which existed between electron-emitters and a resistive layer, and a fear of damage of electron-emitters and a grid electrode on account of short circuit currents between these electrodes is reduced. As another counter measure, Futaba Electronic Industrial Co. has proposed to insert constant current devices between each electron emitter and a electrically conductive layer, which appeared in Japanese Patent Kokai No. 4-249026. In a conventional method in which a resistive layer is inserted between electron-emitters and an electrically conductive layer, voltage drops at a resistive layer are considerably large, and therefore it becomes necessary to increase an applied voltage between electron-emitters and a conductive layer, and uniformity of emitted electron density is not satisfactory. Moreover, in another conventional method using constant current devices, uniformity of electron emission density is largely improved, however, this method cannot be applied to electron guns of a cathode ray tube (CRT, hereinafter), because it is necessary to modulate brightens of a picture by varying quantity of electrons of electron beams. In this construction, a emission current of each electron-emitter is limited by the active device with a saturation current, which is connected in series to a electron-emitter, and therefore nonuniformity of electron emission density over the emissive surface due to random imperfections of shapes and dimensions of electron-emitters and a grid electrode can be prevented. Moreover, even when a portion of electron-emitters are broken-down, short circuit currents are limited by active devices with saturation currents, and there is no fear that the scale of damage is magnified, and the expected life span of the apparatus is prolonged. Hereafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be explained in detail referring to Figs. 2 to 4. Fig.2 shows a cross-sectional view of a field emission cathode apparatus as the first preferred embodiment of the invention. In Fig. 2, 1 is an electron-emitter made of Mo and has a pointed end, 2 is a grid electrode made of W, 3 is an insulator layer made of SiO 2 , 4 is a cylindrical n-type silicon provided under an electron-emitter 1, 5 is a p-type silicon surrounding a n-type silicon 4, and 6 is a n + -type silicon. The electron-emitter 1 is shaped into a cone with a sharp pointed apex and the height of 0.5 to 1.0µm, A n-type silicon 4, a p-type silicon 5 and a n + -type silicon 6 constitutes a n-channel junction gate field effect transistor, wherein an electron-emitter 1, a n-type silicon 4, a p-type silicon 5 and a n + -type silicon 6 correspond to a drain, a n-channel, a gate and a source respectively. By varying the voltage applied to a p-type silicon 5, the electric current flowing in a n-channel, in other word the n-type silicon 4, can be controlled. Moreover, the withstand voltage between source and drain electrodes of this junction gate field effect transistor should be higher than the voltage applied between an electron-emitter 1 and the grid electrode 2 to generate field emission from the electron-emitter 1. If we denote the impurity density and the depth of the n-type silicon, which serves as a channel of the junction gate field effect transistor, by n and w respectively, it is sufficient that the following relations are satisfied. n ≒ p, w > 2V 0 /ε, wherein, 2 is a safety factor, p is the impurity density of the p-type silicon 5, which surround the n-type silicon 4, ε is the break-down field intensity of silicon, and V 0 is the voltage to be applied between the electron-emitter 1 and the n + -type silicon 6 in a case of break-down. It should be noted that V 0 is nearly equal to the voltage applied between an electron-emitter 1 and a grid electrode 2 to generate field emission in a case of normal operation. Moreover, when an electron-emitter 1 and a grid electrode 2 are short circuited by break-down, a voltage of a n-type silicon 4 near an electron-emitter 1 is increased, and a high inverse bias voltage is impressed against a p-type silicon 5. Since impurity density n is low, almost all carriers of a n-type silicon 4 are depleted near an electron-emitter 1, even when inverse bias voltage is not so high, Therefore, in a case of break-down, a pinch-off resistance arises in a n-type silicon 4 near an electron-emitter 1, and thereby short circuit current can be limited. As mentioned in the above, if the above relations are satisfied, even when a portion of electron-emitters and the gate electrodes are short circuited by break downs, short-circuit currents are respectively limited by n-type silicon 4s connected to broken electron-emitters, and therefore the damage of the whole apparatus can be prevented. The above mentioned "current limiting characteristic" of an active device may be expressed as "saturation characteristic of electric current. Fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a field emission cathode apparatus as the second preferred embodiment of the invention. In this drawing, 1 is an electron emitter with a pointed end and made of Mo, 2 is a grid electrode made of W, 3 is an insulator layer made of SiO 2 or etc., 4 is a n-type silicon, 5 is a p-type silicon, and 6 is a n + -type silicon, 7 is a source electrode made of a metal, and 8 is a gate electrode of an insulated gate field effect transistor (IGFET, hereinafter). An electron-emitter 1 is shaped into a cone with height of 0.5 to 1.0µm and surrounded an insulator layer 3 and a grid electrode 2 at a radial distance of 0.5 to 1.0µm. A n-type silicon 4, a p-type silicon 5, a n + -type silicon 6, a source electrode 7 and a gate electrode 8 constitute an IGFET. An electron-emitter 1 and a n + -type silicon 6 serve as a drain electrode in one. By varying the voltage of a gate electrode 8, we can control the electric current starting from an electron-emitter 1 and flowing along n + -type silicon 6, a n-type p-type silicon silicon 4, a surface of a 5 under a gate electrode 8, which serve as a channel, and arriving at a source electrode 7. It is necessary that the withstand voltage between source and drain electrodes of the IGFET is higher than the voltage applied between an electron-emitter 1 and a grid electrode 2 for generating field emission. For this purpose, by using a region of a n-type silicon 4 as a pinch-off resistance, we can make a n-type silicon 4 withstand the voltage to be applied to the n + -type silicon 6, which serves as a drain electrode of an IGFET, and thereby we can get an apparatus with a high withstand voltage. For example, when an impurity density of a p-type silicon 5 is 1 x 10 15 cm -3 , an impurity density per unit area of n-type silicon is 2 x 10 12 cm -2 , and its lateral length is 10µm, a withstand voltage is larger than 100V. When an electron-emitter 1 and a grid electrode are short circuited, a voltage of a n-type silicon 4 near a n + -type silicon 6 is increased and a similar phenomenon to that described in the case of Fig. 2 arises, and a short-circuit current can be limited, because a n-type silicon 4 is embeded in a p-type silicon 5. Accordingly, in a case of break-down, a substantial portion of a break-down voltage is shared by a pinch-off resistance of a n-type silicon 4, and an electric field along a surface of a p-type silicon 5 under a gate electrode 8 of an IGFET is extremely small. Therefore, there is no fear that a gate electrode 8 of an IGFET is exposed to a high voltage, and an insulation layer between a gate electrode 8 of an IGFET and a surface of a p-type silicon 5 can be narrowed. Hence, a mutual conductance of an IGEFT can be increased, and a current therethrough can be controlled by a small control voltage. If a n-type silicon 4 is not used in a construction shown in Fig. 3, a gate-electrode 8 of an IGFET must withstand against a considerable portion of break-down voltage, and must be protected by a thick layer of insulator. Then, a distance between a gate electrode 8 and a surface of a p-type silicon is increased. Therefore, in cases of normal operation, a mutual conductance of an IGFET is largely decreased, and a large control voltage is required. Moreover, it is difficult to limit a short circuit current, because effective pinch-off resistances do not arise in n + -type silicons 6s. Accordingly, when a portion of electron-emitters and a grid electrode are damaged by break-downs and short circuited, the short circuit currents are limited by n-type silicon 4s, which are concerned in damaged electron-emitters, and local damages are not magnified to those of a whole apparatus. The above mentioned "current limiting characteristic" of an active device may be expressed as "saturation characteristic of electric current". Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a field emission cathode apparatus as the third preferred embodiment of the invention. In this drawing, 1 is an electron emitter with a sharp pointed end and made of Mo, 2 is a grid electrode made of W, 3 is an insulator layer made of SiO 2 , 4 is a n-type silicon, 5 is a p-type silicon, and 6 is a n + -type silicon. An electron-emitter 1 is shaped into a cone with height of 0.5 to 1.0µm and surrounded by an insulator layer 3 and a grid electrode 2 at a radial distance of 0.5 to 1.0µm. A n-type silicon 4 is provided under an electron-emitter 1, has a cylindrical form and is buried in a p-type silicon 5. A n-type silicon 4, a p-type silicon 5 and a n + -type silicon 6 constitute a bipolar transistor, and by varying the voltage of a p-type silicon 5, which corresponds to a base electrode of this bipolar transistor, we can control an electric current, which starts from an electron-emitter 1 and flows to a n + -type silicon 6 corresponding to an emitter electrode, passing through a n-type silicon 4 and a p-type silicon 5 corresponding to collector and base electrodes respectively. Denoting the length of the n-type silicon 4 and the voltage applied between an electron-emitter 1 and a n + -type silicon 6 by w and V 0 respectively, w can be determined by the following inequality. n ≒ p, w > 2V 0 /ε wherein, 2 is a safety factor, p is an impurity density of the p-type silicon 5, and ε is the breakdown field intensity of silicon. It should be noted that V 0 is nearly equal to the voltage applied between an electron-emitter 1 and a grid electrode 2 to generate field emission in a case of normal operation. When an electron emitter 1 and a grid electrode 2 is short-circuited by break-down, a voltage of a n-type silicon 4 near an electron-emitter 1 is increased, and a similar phenomenon to those described in cases of Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 arises. Thereby a short circuit current can be limited, because a n-type silicon 4 is surrounded by a p-type silicon 5. Accordingly, a short circuit is limited by a pinch-off resistance, which is produced in a n-type silicon 4 near an electron emitter 1. As mentioned above, if the above conditions are satisfied, even when a portion of an electron-emitter 1 and a grid electrode 2 are damaged by breakdown and short circuited, short circuit currents are limited by n-type silicon 4s, which are concerned in damaged electron-emitters, and damages are not magnified to those of a whole apparatus. The above mentioned "current limiting characteristic" of an active device may be expressed as "saturation characteristic of electric current". In embodiments in above descriptions, one active device with saturation characteristic of electric current is connected to one electron-emitter, however, it is possible to connect one active device to several numbers of electron-emitters. In such a construction, when one electron emitter is damaged, electron-emitters belonging the same group cannot operate, however, all other electron-emitters can operate normally, and therefore, reliability of an apparatus can be maintained, and its life is prolonged. As described in the above, in a field emission cathode apparatus according to the invention, since a emission current from each electron-emitter is determined by an active device, which is connected to an electron-emitter in series and has a saturation characteristic of electric current, nonuniformity of emission current density over a whole emissive area, which is caused by random imperfections of shapes and dimensions of electron-emitters and a gridelectrode, can be eliminated. Moreover, even when a portion of electron-emitters and a grid electrode are broken-down, short-circuit current flowing thereinto are limited by active devices with saturation characteristics of electric currents, and a sale of damages is not magnified to that of a whole apparatus, and its life can be prolonged. Still more, since quantity of emitted electrons are controlled by active devices, there is an advantage that a control voltage can be decreased, and accordingly a field emission cathode apparatus, which is suitable for CRTs, and has uniform electron emission density over a whole emissive area and a long life, can be provided.

Claims: A field emission cathode apparatus, comprising: an electron-emitter (1) having a micropoint at a tip portion thereof; a drain (4) or collector of an active device directly connected in series to said electron-emitter (1) ; and means for applying a predetermined constant voltage across a grid electrode (2) and source or emitter (6) of said active device to emit electrons from said micropoint of said electron-emitter (1); wherein a current flowing through said electron-emitter (1) is modulated by said active device; characterized in that the drain or collector (4) of said active device is of an n or n + -type; the source or emitter (6) of said active device is of an n + -type and said active device has a break-down voltage greater than said predetermined constant voltage and a current saturation characteristic. A field emission cathode apparatus, according to claim 1, wherein: said active device is one of a junction type field effect transistor and an insulated gate type field effect transistor, a source-drain path of said one being connected in series to said electron-emitter (1). A field emission cathode apparatus, according to claim 1, wherein: said active device is a bipolar transistor, an emitter-collector path being connected in series to said electron-emitter (1).

Inventors: KURIYAMA TOSHIHIDE, MAKISHIMA HIDEO, KURIYAMA, TOSHIHIDE, MAKISHIMA, HIDEO
Applicants: NIPPON ELECTRIC CO, NEC CORPORATION
Application year: 1994
Main classification: H01J1
IPC codes: H01J1